Formed in the immediate aftermath of the Culling, the Jade Falcon Guards were one of the oldest and most respected units in the Falcon touman.[1] Until 3050 command of the Falcon Guards was seen as a prerequisite for Khanship, and freeborns were not allowed in the unit's ranks.[2]

In 3050, the Guards were single-handedly destroyed at the battle of the Great Gash on Twycross by Kai Allard-Liao. The magnitude of the defeat was so great that the Guards were disgraced. Khan Crichell wanted to wipe the unit from the rolls, but his saKhan intervened, arguing that doing so would be a waste of the long and storied history of the unit.[2] After Twycross, the Falcon Guards were slowly rebuilt and command was given to Star Colonel Aidan Pryde, the Khans viewing it appropriate to give a dezgra Cluster to a disgraced Star Colonel. Unlike the unit that landed on Twycross, the new Falcon Guards were filled with freeborns, troublemakers, solahma, and other dezgra troops.[2]

The Falcon Guards regained a great deal of their prestige under Pryde's command on Tukayyid. During that battle, Trinaries Alpha, Beta and Gamma served as main attack force. Trinary Delta served as Scouts, while Trinary Echo was stretched along the whole battleline to serve as flank-cover. They held off the advancing ComGuard, allowing many Falcon warriors to escape that would otherwise have been killed or captured. Following Tukayyid, the Falcon Guards were nicknamed "Pryde's Pride". In fact the Falcon Guards were the only Jade Falcon unit to achieve any sort of success during the battle.[2]

Being considered a prestige unit only elite warriors were assigned to the Falcon Guards. After the heavy losses on Tukayyid most remaining elite and veteran warriors were freeborns. In later years, mainly warriors fresh from the sibkos were assigned to the Falcon Guards.[citation needed]

The Falcon Guards also fought against the Steel Vipers in 3061. The Steel Viper Warrior caste has a strong distaste for freeborns even by the standards of Clan trueborns in general, and tried to wipe out the Falcon Guards, with their heavy contingent of freeborn warriors. However, the Falcon Guards proved to be a tough opponent, even for the elite Triash Keshik.[9] Though they were outmatched, the freeborn Diana Pryde managed to destroy the 'Mech of Khan Perigard Zalman. Upon seeing this, the rest of the Steel Vipers fled. For this action, Diana Pryde was promoted to the rank of Star Captain.[citation needed]

In 3064 a Trinary of the Falcon Guards was stationed on Twycross as an honor guard. Archer Christifori knew that defeating this unit on this planet would enrage a host of other Jade Falcon units enough to leave their positions and hunt him down, thus taking pressure off the Lyran Alliance. He attacked that Trinary, which accidentally broke zellbrigen. Several Clusters, including the rest of the Falcon Guards, attacked Christifori's combat group, but were defeated as reinforcements arrived. Star Captain Diana Pryde was among the few survivors.

Several months later, Diana Pryde was promoted to Star Colonel and commander of the Falcon Guards, which were scheduled for rebuild.[10]

Opposing the Jade Falcon and Hell's Horses forces were the remnants of the Ice Hellion Beta Galaxy along with two WarShips, the Fredasa-class corvette CIH Whelp and the badly-damaged Lola III-class destroyer CIH Cold Hunter all under the overall command of the Hellion's saKhan, Connor Rood. The Cold Hunter was in no condition to fight, and surrendered before the Falcon forces reached firing distance; the Potemkin-class cruiser CIH Coterie arrived at the nadir jump point shortly after the allied Falcon and Horses launched their assault, leaving it too far away to assist. That left the Whelp and the minimal fighter presence to defend Beta Galaxy, and the Whelp did her best to disrupt the attack, gutting a part of the incoming wave of enemy forces before being savaged by assault DropShips.[11]

The Whelp was responsible for the destruction of the Falcon Guards when she destroyed both DropShips transporting the Guards, but one of the two Falcon Guards DropShips, the CJF Falcon Xi, managed to reorientate itself as it began breaking apart, and launched a final volley against the underbelly of the Whelp. While the Falcon Xi was destroyed, that last parting shot penetrated the Whelp's armor, venting a substantial portion of the ship into space. A Star of Jade Falcon fighters took advantage of this, launching an attack that destroyed the Whelp's bridge.[11][12]